Floral Biology of Myristica fragrans Houtt

Author: Seema V. and Manimekalai V.

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Abstract

Myristica fragrans Houtt is an evergreen aromatic tree belongs to the family Myristicaceae. It is a dioecious tree. It is growing up to 5 to 13 meter high. Leaves are dark green and alternate. Flowers are pale yellow, fleshy and bell shaped. Male flowers are arranged in groups of one to ten. Female flowers are arranged in smaller groups of one to three. Fruits are oval or pyriform and yellow. Nutmeg is the seed kernel inside the fruit and mace is the red coloured covering of the kernel. The flowers are collected and morphological characters were analysed under a dissection microscope. At the time of flowering and fruiting period the tree was observed. Macrophotographs were taken by using camera Nikon cool pix P600. Nikon binocular Eclipse- Niu model microscope with light and fluorescent option system was used to take micro photographs. The present study revealed that biology of male and female flowers of Myristica fragrans. The study about the floral biology is very useful to improve the pollination and crop improvement. It also helps to understand the fruit setting of the plant.

Keywords

Myristica fragrans, dioecious, nutmeg, mace, kernel

Conclusion

Myristica fragrans is a medium sized tree. The flowers of the tree produce a strong and pleasant odor and nectar. The fruits of the nutmeg contain odoriferous secondary metabolites. Both the nutmeg and mace contain volatile oils. This oil constitutes have a variety of pharmacological effects (Parimala and Amarjyothi 2013). Nutmeg shows anticonvulsant, anti cancer, anti inflammatory and analgesic activities. It is also used in the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, vomiting and abdominal distension (Ibrahim et al., 2019). The flowers of Myristica fragrans are small and unisexual. With reference to the floral studies the male flower has androecium with twenty stamens and the female flower has gynoecium with unicarpellate ovary.

References

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How to cite this article

Seema V. and Manimekalai V. (2023). Floral Biology of Myristica fragrans Houtt. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(5): 1530-1534.